The archive-stuffing party train simply does not stop. To wit, this review of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, originally published upon its 2004 DVD release:

Doing dumb is easy, but doing dumb well is hard. Plenty of
movies try and, well, for lack of a forceful enough clinical term, suck. This
film isn’t one of them. A precursor to the even greater mainstream success of
dim-bulb and/or friends-in-low-places teen flicks like Wayne’s World, Bill
& Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus
Journey, updated the Jeff Spicoli image in a fresh and influential way.

Written
by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon and directed with style and economy by Stephen
Herek, the movie finds two vacant-eyed San Dimas, Calif. seniors (Alex Winter
and Keanu Reeves) more interested in their rock band (Wyld Stallions) than
history class. (Question: “Who is Joan of Arc?” Reeves’ thoughtful, reasoned
response: “Noah’s wife?”) Consequently, of course, they’re flunking. But possible
redemption arrives in the form of Rufus (George Carlin), a guardian angel from
the future who proffers the pair a time-travelling phone booth to go back in
time and learn history from those who made it, including Napoleon, Socrates,
Gengis Khan and Abe Lincoln. Surprisingly, the film holds up pretty well;
probably the worst thing you can say about the movie is that it no doubt
inspired some dunderheaded studio exec to greenlight all of Pauly Shore’s
flicks.

DVD special features on this anamorphic widescreen release include only the theatrical trailer, which is kind of
a bummer since you get the feeling that there are some fun extras lurking out
there, not to mention an interesting audio commentary track or two. Still, Bill &
Ted’s Excellent Adventure stands as a compelling piece of prima facie evidence
that like movies can make a difference: how else do you think SAT words like
“heinous” and “bogus” entered the teen lexicon? B+ (Movie) D (Disc)